Woven mesh joint forming



Oct. 30, 1962 D. G. MacBEAN 3,060,547

WOVEN MESH JOINT FORMING Filed June 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jkyg-N c 51737? j 3 MA 6 AN WW Q Oct. 30, 1962 D. G. MacBEAN 3,060,547

WOVEN MESH JOINT FORMING Filed June 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Irro/WUnited States Patent Gil-ice 3,060,547 Patented Get. 30, 1962 3,960,547WOVEN MESH JOINT FORMKNG' Donald G. MacBean, Verdun, Quebec, Canada,assignor to The Johnson Wire Works Limited, Montreal, Quebee, CanadaFiled June 15, 1960, Ser. No. 36,440 Claims priority, application CanadaGet. 23, 1959 9 Claims. (Cl. 2872) This invention relates to the methodof forming a joint between the ends of woven mesh material andparticularly to the method of forming a smooth, non-thickened jointbetween the ends of a mesh formed from strands of woven material.

Considerable difficulty has been experienced in forming a satisfactoryjoint between sections of woven material without overlapping thematerial and thereby providing a joint of double thickness, and also indisposing or otherwise concealing the exposed ends of the warp strands.

The invention consists essentially in first trimming the opposing endsof the woven mesh to be joined so that the ends of the mesh present astraight transverse edge to each other, and then cutting back the warpstrands in one end of the woven mesh in staggered relation to each otherso that a few of the weft strands adjacent the end of the woven mesh aresupported by some only of the warp strands, and cutting back the warpstrands of the opposing end of the Woven mesh in the same manner so thatthe staggered ends of the warp strands, when the two ends of the wovenmesh are brought together and the Warp strands of one end are interwovenwith the partly supported weft strands of the other end of woven mesh,the staggered ends of the opposing warp strands will be brought intobutting engagement with each other without any thickening of theinterwoven joint and the abutting ends of the warp strands will becompletely concealed within the interwoven mesh joint. The interwovenmesh joint is then sealed in any suitable manner in order to weld theabutting ends of the warp strands and the interwoven warp and weftstrands together to form an invisible joint.

The object of the invention is to provide an efficient and durable jointof minimum thickness in woven mesh material.

A further object of the invention is to provide an interwoven joint inwoven material in which the ends of the warp strands in the joining endsbutt against each other in staggered relation.

A further object of the invention is to form adjacent ends of a Wovenmesh so that the ends of the warp strands of one joining end of meshmaterial can be locked with the weft strands of the adjacent joining endof mesh material, bringing the ends of the opposing warp strands intobutting engagement with each other.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mesh joint which canbe sealed in the thickness of the mesh material being joined.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a typical plain interwoven meshjoint showing the staggered butt arrangement of the warp strands.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ends of the interwoven mesh jointshown in FIG. 1 separated from each other and showing the method ofstaggered cutting of the ends of the warp strands.

'FIG. 3 is a vertical section of the interwoven joint of the materialplaced between upper and lower press platens as one form of sealing theinterwoven joint.

FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of a woven mesh structure similar to FIG.2, but showing a twill weave with a distinctive pattern of staggeredwarp strand ends.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view similar to FIG. 4 but showing a differentpattern of staggered warp strand ends.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 1illustrates a portion of the joint between the right hand end of wovenmesh material A and the left hand end of woven mesh material B, whileFIG. 2 shows the same ends of material A and B spaced apart from eachother but ready to be joined together.

In preparing the ends of the woven mesh material for joining together,the adjacent ends of material A and B are trimmed square and parallelwith the weft strands 5 in the case of the material A and the weftstrands 6 in the case of the material B.

After the ends of the material A and B have been trimmed square, thewarp strands 7 of the material A and the warp strands 8 of the materialB are cut according to the pattern of butt joints indicated at 9, 10, 11and 12 in FIG. 1. This pattern of cut warp ends on the material A isindicated at 9a, 10a, 11a and 12a, and in the material B is indicated at9b, 16b, 11b, and 12b. After the ends of the warp strands 7 and 8 havebeen cut to length according to the pattern established in FIG. 1, theend weft strands 5a and 6a shown in FIG. 2 are withdrawn from the wovenmesh leaving the waved warp ends 12a of the material A and the wavedends 9b of the material B free of contact with a weft strand.

The material A and B can now be brought into joining contact with eachother. This is accomplished by drawing the two materials A and Btogether so that the warp ends 12a of the material A ride over the firstadjacent weft strand 6 of the material B and the warp ends 9b of thematerial B ride over the first adjacent weft strand 5 of the material Ato bring all of the warp ends 9a9b, 10a10b, 11a11b and 12a12b intoabutment with each other in the manner shown in FIG. 1.

After the ends of material A and B are joined together as abovedescribed the jointed material is laid between two press plates 13 and14, as shown in FIG. 3 and subjected to heat and pressure to weld theinterlocking warp and weft strands together. It will be noted that thewarp strand butt joints 9, 10, 11 and 12 are shown in FIG. 1 as beinglocated close to a weft strand. It is preferred that these butt joints9, 10, 11 and 12 be as close as possible to a weft strand so that on theapplication of heat and pressure to the interlocked joint betweenmaterials A and B that, under heat and pressure a solid weld will beestablished between the joints of the warp strands and the adjacent weftstrands.

An alternative to the placing of the joined material A and B between thepress plates 13 and 14, each abutting joint 9, 10, 11 and 12 can bewelded with the adjacent weft strand either singly or in a group.Another alternative is to apply adhesive to the interlocking ends ofmaterial A and B and allow the adhesive to set, and blowing the excessadhesive out of the openings in the mesh.

In FIG. 4 the invention is shown applied to a twill weave. In thisapplication the two weft strands 15a are withdrawn from the left handmaterial C and one weft strand from the right hand material D. The warpstrands 17 of the material C and the warp strands 18 of the material Dare cut to a pattern of three staggered lengths so that the warp ends19a, 20a, and 21a of the material C abut with the warp ends 19b, 20b,and 21b of the material D. In this application, when the materials C andD are brought together, the warp ends 1% underride the first adjacentweft strand 15, the warp ends 20a under-ride the first two adjacent weftstrands 16, while the warp ends 21a and 21b merely butt against eachother. I

In FIG. 5 the invention is shown applied also to a twill weave. In thisapplication the two weft strands 22a are withdrawn from the left handmaterial E and two weft strands 23a are withdrawn from the right handmaterial F. The warp strands 24 of the material E and the warp strands25 of the material F are cut to a pattern of six staggered lengths sothat the warp ends 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a, 30a and 31a of the material Eabut with the warp ends 26b, 27b, 28b, 29b, 30b and 31b of the materialF. In this application, when the materials E and F are brought together,the warp ends 26b under-ride two adjacent weft strands 22, the warp ends27b under-ride one adjacent weft strand 22, the warp ends 28a under-ridetwo adjacent weft strands 23, the warp ends 29a and 29b abut each other,the warp ends 30a under-ride one adjacent weft strand 23, the warp ends31b under-ride two adja cent weft strands 22.

The pattern of abutment of the warp strands will depend to some extenton the type of weave of the material being joined and also on thestrength of joint desired. In the plain weave illustrated in FIGS. 1 and2, relatively short cut back lengths of warp end are necessary,generally requiring the withdrawal of only one weft strand at each endto be joined, whereas, in the twill weaves illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5,the cut back ends of the warp strands require to be long enough so thatwhen the ends are interweaved with each other, the twill pattern will bemaintained in the joint. To obtain this condition, two weft strandsrequire to be withdrawn from each end of the material to be joined.

It is to be understood that this method of joining woven material can beapplied to forms of weaving other than those illustrated and that thepattern of abutment of the ends of the warp strands will be establishedwhich will best suit the type of weave and the strength of jointrequired.

In joining one end of material to another the waved ends of the warpstrands are eased over and under the adjacent weft strands until the endof the warp strands butt against each other. After the joint has beeninspected to see that the ends are properly intermeshed and anundistorted pattern of weave has been formed, the joint of the materialis suitably welded to ensure that the individual points of contactbetween the butting ends of the warp strands and between the warp andweft strands throughout the area of the joint will become permanentlywelded to each other.

In the case of woven plastic material, the heat and pressure applied tothe area of the joint will be such that the joint will be thoroughlywelded without undue decrease in the thickness of the material along thejoint.

By the use of this method of joining woven materials in which staggeredlength of warp ends, already in weave form after withdrawal of one ormore weft strands, ensures that the joining ends of the material can bebrought together in a continuation of the weave pattern at the uniformthickness of the material without overlap of one length of material onthe other. The resulting joint takes on the exact woven appearance ofthe body of the material and the joint itself is practicallyundistinguishable.

What I claim is:

1. The method of forming a joint in material made up of woven warp andweft strands comprising trimming the joining edges of the material,cutting back the ends of the warp strands at the trimmed edges, the saidwarp strands being cut back in staggered relation to each other to apredetermined pattern so that, when the ends to be joined are broughttogether, the cut back staggered ends of the warp strands in one joiningedge of material will butt against the cutback staggered ends of thecorresponding warp strands in the other joining edge of material,withdrawing one or more weft strands at the trimmed edges of thematerial, interweaving the staggered cut back length of warp strands inone joining edge of material with the adjacent Weft strands in the otherjoining edge of material, and sealing the interwoven joint so formed.

2. The method of forming a joint in material made up of woven warp andweft strands, in which the wave pattern of the individual warp and weftstrands is retained in the finished joint, comprising, trimming thejoining edges of the material, cutting back the ends of the warp strandsat the trimmed edges, the said warp strands being cut back in staggeredrelation to each other to a predetermined pattern so that, When the endsto be joined are brought together, the cut back staggered ends of thewarp strands in one joining edge of material will butt against the cutback staggered ends of the corresponding warp strands in the otherjoining edge of material, withdrawing one or more weft strands at thetrimmed edges of each joining edge of material, interweaving thestaggered cut back lengths of warp strands in one joining edge ofmaterial with the adjacent weft strands in the other joining edge ofmaterial, and sealing the interwoven joint so formed.

3. The method of forming a joint in material made up of woven warp andweft strands in which the wave pattern of the individual warp and weftstrands is retained in the finished joint comprising, trimming thejoining edges of the material, cutting back the ends of the warp strandsat the trimmed edges, the said warp strands being cut back in staggeredrelation to each other to a predetermined pattern so that, when the endsto be joined are brought together, the cut back staggered ends of thewarp strands in one joining edge of material will butt against the cutback staggered ends of the corresponding warp strands in the otherjoining edge of material, withdrawing one end weft strand at the trimmededges of each joining edge of material, interweaving the staggered cutback length of warp strands in one joining end of material with thefirst ad jacent weft strand in the other joining edge of material, theinterweaved warp strands of one joining edge of material being broughtinto butt contact with the warp strands of the other joining edge ofmaterial and with the first adjacent weft strands in each joining edgeof material completing a woven joint pattern similar to that of thematerial being joined, and sealing the joint so formed.

4. The method of forming a joint in material made up of woven warp andweft strands in which the wave pattern of the individual warp and weftstrands is retained in the finished joint comprising, trimming thejoining edges of the material, cutting back the ends of the warp strandsat the trimmed edges, the said warp strands being cut back in staggeredrelation to each other to a predetermined pattern so that when the endsto be joined are brought together, the cut back staggered ends of thewarp strands in one joining edge of material will butt against the cutback staggered ends of the corresponding warp strands in the otherjoining edge of material, withdrawing two end weft strands at thetrimmed edges of each joining edge of material, interweaving thestaggered cut back length of warp strands in one joining edge ofmaterial with the first adjacent pair of weft strands in the otherjoining edge of material, the interweaved warp strands of one joiningedge of material being brought into butt contact with the warp strandsof the other joining edge of material and, with the first adjacent pairof weft strands in each joining edge of material completing a wovenjoint pattern similar to that of the material being joined, and sealingthe joint so formed.

5. The method of forming a joint in woven mesh material as set forth inclaim 4 in which the material has a twill weave and the staggeredlengths of warp strands when interwoven with the adjacent weft strandscomplete a twill weave in the joint.

6. The method of forming a joint in woven mesh material as set forth inclaim 1 in which the predetermined pattern of cut back ends of warpstrands consists of three individual strands, the pattern being repeatedacross the width of the joint in the material.

7. The method of forming a joint in Woven mesh material as set forth inclaim 1 in which the predetermined pattern of cut back ends of Warpstrands is made up of from three to six strands, the pattern beingrepeated across the width of the joint in the material.

8. The method of forming a joint in woven mesh material as set forth inclaim 1 in which the sealing of the joint is eifected under heat andpressure.

9. The method of forming a joint in woven mesh material as set forth inclaim 5 in which the predetermined pattern of out back ends of Warpstrands is made up of six strands, the first of said strands being outback a length equal to five mesh openings, a second strand being cutback a length equal to four mesh openings, a third strand of originallength, a fourth strand being out back a length equal to two meshopenings, a fifth strand being cut back a length equal to one meshopening, and the sixth strand being cut back a length equal to threemesh openings, the pattern being repeated across the width of the jointin the material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS926,004 Keller June 22, 1909 2,435,467 Spencer Feb. 3, 1948 2,496,052Hose et a1. Ian. 21, 1950

